My BFF

So, my best friend, Sarah Ellen, and her hubby Jeff and their adorable son Beck, came this past weekend to Raleigh to meet Grace. We has a blast! Thursday night, our sweet hubbies kept our little darling babies (this was the FIRST time for Paul) while we could have a girls night out! What a blessing! It was so great to just catch up (and vent) with Sarah Ellen. I love having a BFF who has done everything before me. And when I say everything, I mean everything. She is a year older, so naturally she was a year ahead of me in school. We went off to college together (purely by fluke, actually) to Anderson College (now University), so again, naturally she graduated ahead of me. We were both teachers. (OK, I lied, I did get my Master's degree first!!...but not by much...lol.) She even got married the year before me. She also started trying to get pregnant before me.

I will never forget when she told me that there were trying to get pregnant. I was like, what?!...not yet! We still have so much left to do first (I guess I was thinking that I would get pregnant too). So, after several years of trying and not being successful, I was so excited to hear that they were going to start the adoption process with an organization called Bethany. During there process, my husband and I started trying. And after 9 months of trying and 2 "washouts" (where the fertilized egg that never implants, so they don't consider it a "real" pregnancy)Paul and I got pregnant. Sarah Ellen was the first person that I thought of. I couldn't believe that I was going to have a baby before her. She was the first person I called. She was so super excited for me, even though I am sure she was crying on the inside. I will never forget May 24, 2011. I was in the middle of giving a test when I heard my phone vibrate. I opened a text message from Sarah Ellen saying, "Beck William Edwards" with a picture of the most precious, perfect little boy. I started to cry. I couldn't believe it. I knew that they were done with the application process, but I had no idea that they were given a son! (They kept it a secret until they knew for absolute sure). I texted her back and told her to call me as soon as she could. On May 26, 2011, Beck William Edwards officially joined the Edwards family. God knows what he is doing. He knew that Beck was meant for Sarah Ellen and Jeff, and that Grace was meant for Paul and me...and that Sarah Ellen had to be a mommy first. How else could I have done it?

While eating dinner Thursday night, Sarah Ellen and I reminisced about how much our lives have changed since our double date on Valentine's night, 2011. In just a short amount of time, God changed our lives forever, with different methods but with the same end result...we became mothers.

To ready more in depth about the Edwards story, visit their blog at http://everyday-edwards.blogspot.com)